The Co-operative Group Headquarters, Manchester

The Co-operative Group’s new head office in Manchester close to its current complex on Miller Street and Corporation Street comprises a 15 storey building which is the home to more than 3,000 employees.

Colt worked closely with the design team to offer a solution which would provide both day to day ventilation and smoke ventilation when needed. Colt supplied an atrium mechanical ventilation system and three Colt Shaft systems in the new building. The Colt Shaft is an active fan smoke extraction system that largely frees building designers from the constraints imposed by the need for fire-fighting cores and extracts smoke more quickly than passive natural ventilation systems.

Colt also provided Cyclone impulse ventilators to both the car park and goods delivery area of the building. These systems can be used in an emergency to help clear smoke to help fire fighters combat the source of a fire, but also for clearing exhaust fumes as part of its every day operation.